I'd say there are a number of people who drive flash cars think they can get away with obnoxious driving because there car is 'the ultimate driving machine' and will be able to make up for their poor driving by being well engineered, good brakes, engine etc.

If there was no traffic in the middle lane for 1/2 mile or so, what was the OP doing in the outside lane in the first place? I "undertake" all the time but without all the flashing lights fuss... just have to keep your wits about you, daresay I'll get pulled one day.
TJ - my experience is that cyclists are the worst drivers, my brother said he didn't care if he got a ban because he cycled almost everywhere anyway

Right, and you'd correctly pull them not because of the flashing but because of their driving. Even had they not flashed you'd still pull them. Th flashing is a complete red herring.

That was the point exactly, the flashing cannot be taken in isolation but needs to be put into context. How the flash is delivered matters.

Another example then,

I'm in Lane 2 approaching a driver who's 'hogging' Lane 2 (i.e. not keeping left when Lane 1 is empty. Again, long head-lamp flash (4 seconds or so) a good distance back as I approach. Only meaning is "I am here". If they move left into Lane 2, all well and good. If they don't I move to Lane 3 to overtake.

It would become intimidation if I were to close the gap (especially to less than 2 seconds) and repeatedly flash them.

Another example: I often use a head-lamp flash as a warning when I'm about to overtake a wide vehicle / van with no interior mirror / more than one vehicle on a single carriageway road - again to help alert them to my presence.

It would become intimidation if I were to close the gap (especially to less than 2 seconds) and repeatedly flash them.

We're agreed then that if you keep a safe gap it's not intimidatory, so nothing to do with the flashing, just whether you're otherwise driving as a c*ck. Good - you won't be pulling me over then (at least not for that )

I'm in Lane 2 approaching a driver who's 'hogging' Lane 2 (i.e. not keeping left when Lane 1 is empty. Again, long head-lamp flash (4 seconds or so) a good distance back as I approach. Only meaning is "I am here". If they move left into Lane 2, all well and good. If they don't I move to Lane 3 to overtake.

Would take too long to explain the rare circumstances when overtaking on the left is permitted, with care, but no, 'undertaking' is not.

'Undertaking' is a very apt name for it. People don't expect to be passed on the inside and, if they do pull across, the 'undertaker' is at fault.

Far better as I already said, to hang back for a few seconds, avoid the conflict and invariably it sorts itself out.

Back to renton and his rush to get to work, he may save a few minutes (does he run from the house to the car and from the car park to his place of work I wonder?) but is it really worth it? Better to leave on time to arrive on time than leave late and never get there.

Shaving just a few mph off your speed makes a huge difference in terms of safety and your ability to control things but little real difference to journey times.

An average 35 mile commute. How much time would you save doing it at an average 80mph as opposed to an average 65mph? (Clue 6 minutes)

Back to TJs associated 'why' thread. 3,000 are killed on the roads every year, 250,000 seriously injured ('serious' means life changing). Everyone knows someone (if not themselves) who's been affected by an event on the roads. Road deaths are the biggest killer of under 25 year old males. Almost all of those deaths and serious injuries are down to the human behind the wheel (they are not "accidents") they are caused by a deliberate act or by deliberately not paying sufficent attention and are entirely preventable.

I'm in Lane 2 approaching a driver who's 'hogging' Lane 2 (i.e. not keeping left when Lane 1 is empty. Again, long head-lamp flash (4 seconds or so) a good distance back as I approach. Only meaning is "I am here". If they move left into Lane 2, all well and good. If they don't I move to Lane 3 to overtake.

It would become intimidation if I were to close the gap (especially to less than 2 seconds) and repeatedly flash them.

We're agreed then that if you keep a safe gap it's not intimidatory, so nothing to do with the flashing, just whether you're otherwise driving as a c*ck. Good - you won't be pulling me over then (at least not for that )

We're not agreed at all I'm afraid. Qualify 'repeated' for me? How many times and how often? Have they seen you and are being deliberately obstructive? How can you tell?

As already said, if you know they've seen you and are being deliberately obstructive the answer is not to sit there repeatedly flashing them, even if you are sat at what you might consider a 'safe distance'. Drop back further, into Lane 2 if it's clear and let them move over. They won't stay out in Lane 3 for ever.

Indeed it is Andy.
For me, I probably drove like Renton when I had a company car, everything paid for by someone else. Now, owning my car, I drive completely differently. My driving style now has a direct impact on my insurance, amount of fuel I use, wear and tear and therefore ultimately, cash in my pocket. Some people say it's about becoming older and wiser, but for me, my driving style changed dramatically on losing the company car I had from aged 19 to 29.

How can you possibly know? More to the point, if you're talking about pulling me for it, how can you know that I know that they know I'm there even if you know that they know I'm there?

They won't stay out in Lane 3 for ever.

That's where I reckon you're wrong. I have had for instance somebody sitting in lane 2 (of a 2 lane motorway) who did actually pull over after a few flashes. After I'd overtaken them and moved into lane 1 they moved back out into lane 2 again. It only takes a small shift from that mentality to refuse to move out of lane 2 (or 3) at all, and I'm convinced that had I dropped back or moved into lane 1 they'd have definitely stayed there. He was the only other car in sight on the motorway, in front or behind.

Can you see their mirror? Can you see them looking in their mirror? (Head movements)? (I'm not suggesting you get that close

More to the point, if you're talking about pulling me for it, how can you know that I know that they know I'm there even if you know that they know I'm there?

Comes back again to judgement, general manner of their driving not only in relation to the headlamp flash. Plus as said, if you were pulled it would not be 'just' for the flash but for getting too close for example. When you were stopped they'd ask you, "why have a I pulled you".. "You were flashing the car in front, would you like to tell me why?"

That's where I reckon you're wrong. I have had for instance somebody sitting in lane 2 (of a 2 lane motorway) who did actually pull over after a few flashes. After I'd overtaken them and moved into lane 1 they moved back out into lane 2 again. It only takes a small shift from that mentality to refuse to move out of lane 2 (or 3) at all, and I'm convinced that had I dropped back or moved into lane 1 they'd have definitely stayed there. He was the only other car in sight on the motorway, in front or behind.

This is the thing that bugs me with driving in this country is that most people don't seem to understand lane disapline. How many times have you been bhind some one in lane 2 of a dual carrige way as they want to turn right on the third roundabout ahead or that right trun 2 miles away. I have also seen plenty of cars late at night pull on to the motorway straight in to lane 2 even though the only other car to be seen is me and im going faster than them.

So, you slow down & wait for them to pull over?? How long do you wait? I have seen many instances on sections of the A1 where someone refuses to move out of lane 2. Even when people start to undertake they still sit there in 'their' lane for miles & miles.

Must you slow your journey down indefinitely because someone else is too ignorant/arrogant/stupid/unaware or whatever else causes it to use the correct lane?

And at no point did the OP say that the flashing of lights was 'aggressive' but this seems to have been assumed by all the 'holier than thou' brigade.

Alot of people are making the link between speed and safety, which is fair enough, but what about the link between awareness and saftey?

Surely doing 80 mph, using your mirrors, aware of whats going on around you is safer that doing 65 mph in the middle lane completely oblivious to every thing around you??

As 2 who middle lane hoggs, its all types of cars. However the difference is that people in BM's, Mercs, Range Rovers etc for some reason take a lot more offence when you point out what a d!ck they are being